Model railway vehicle truck



1948- H. R. HOWARD 2,453Q915 MODEL RAILWAY VEHICLE TRUCK Filed Aug. 25, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 9' firmafififfoward A Ito rneys Nov. 16, 1948.

Filed Aug. 25, 1947 MODEL RAILWAY VEHICLE TRUCK H. R. HOWARD 2 Sheets-sheaf. 2

2 Z Z 7 3d 30 /U Inventor @a/uow A no rneys latented Nov. 16, 1 948 UN I TE D STATES PAT? E QFFICE MODEEI RAIBWAY VEHIGEE TRUGK Herman R; Howard, Pomona, Calif. Application-August 25, 194 7, S-erialNo. 770,455:

2 Claims.

This invention relates to: a novel construction of truck for use with model railroad rollingstock and. is especially intended and: adapted for use by model railroaders, who-as a hobby-,build their own vehicle bodies.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a truck for model railway rolling stock of extremely simple construction, which can be inexpensively manufactured and sold and which will be durable and. efiicient in operation, and which is especially constructedto enable it tobe readily applied to custom or hand: made vehicle bodies.

Still a further object ofthe invention is'to provide' a truck of the above described character which isespecially adapted for usewith out-of.- door model railway equipment, one'one-half: inch scale size.

Other objects and'advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from,

the following description of the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the model truck constituting the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same and showing a portion of avehicle body applied thereto;

Figure 3 is a transverse. vertical sectionalLvlew taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3 -3 of Figure 2';

Figure 4 is a fragmentary verticalsectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line l--4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional View taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, a model railway vehicle truck in its entirety is designated generally l and includes corresponding truck sides, each designated generally 8, a bolster 9, a tie plate if), two axles ll, four wheels I2 and other secondary parts which will hereinafter be described.

The truck sides 8 are preferably formed of cast bronze by pouring rather than die casting and each includes an upper arcuate portion l3 which is upwardly bowed and which is provided, intermediate of its ends, with a depending web portion M. The arcuate portion I3 is provided with depending journal boxes 15 at the ends thereof and said journal.- boxes and: the ends 1 of the arcuate. portion. l3:- are" connected: toand: braced by the lowerend'of the web? 14 byc diagonalbracestlfi which: extend from=the lower end of; the: web IE4 tothe journalboxes I6 and ends of theupper arcuate'portion. I8 The parts 43;, I4; HrandJ-fi are of course cast integrally and combin -.to for-m openings H! in the truck sides fl whichiconsiderably reducethe weight thereof without materially weakening. the. structure.

Thevweb l4 isprovided: withianrelongated-zopenin'g IS in the upper: part thereof for. the. same purpose asthe openings H; and directly: therebeneath, each web- Mis provided with asubstantially rectangular opening. l9 which: extends transversely therethrough and which forms a transverse bar or member 2llatl the lower? end oi the: web l4. As best-seen in: Figures 5and16, the bar 20: isprovided with. twoperpendicular openings 21. which openoutwardly of. the lower endiof theweb l4 and into-the opening. la for a purpose which will hereinafter. become. apparent.

Asbest seen in Figure 3, thebolster 9-,.whichis preferably also a bronze casting, is providediw-ith a substantially straight intermediate portion 22 which. is. provided. with a. perpendicular. opening 23. whichis centrally located relatively. to the bolster. aand truck' .1; The endportionsid oflthe bolster 9 are vertically enlarged in a downward direction and the upper surfaces thereofQare inclined. outwardly. and downwardly slightly with respect to theluppersurface. of the intermediate portion 22$ The end' portions 2?!" are provided with perpendicular end faces 25 and with extensions 26, which project beyond the lower ends of the end faces 25, and which are downwardly offset with respect to the remainder of the bolster 9. The extensions 25 are of a width slightly less than the width of the openings l9, into which they extend, and are of a vertical thickness substantially less than the height of the openings l9, as clearly illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

The tie plate in is disposed beneath the bolster 9 and between the front and rear wheels l2 and the ends thereof engage the undersides of the bars 20 of the webs M and are secured thereto by screw fastenings 2'! which extend through openings 28 in the tie plate l0 and into threaded recesses 29 of the webs M. The ends of the tie plate Ill form seats for the lower ends of expansion coil springs 30, the lower portions of which are disposed in the openings 2| and the upper portions of which extend into the openings 19 of the webs I4. The upper ends of the springs 30 seat in recesses 3| in the under sides of the ex- 'ster opening 23.

tensions 26, for yieldably supporting said extensions in the openings l9 and for yieldably mounting the bolster 9 in the truck sides 8, as best illustrated in Figure 3. The tie plate In is preferably formed of soft or mild steel of approximately eighteen gauge.

The axles II and wheels l2 are preferably of cold rolled steel and the wheels are pressed on the axles and keyed thereto to rotate therewith. The ends of the axles ll, outwardly of the wheels l2 are slightly tapered to fit the journal recesses 32 of the journal boxes 15, which recesses open inwardly and are tapered to corespond to the ends of the axles l I, which are journaled therein. The journal boxes l5 are also each provided with a restricted port 33 which extends from the inner connected by a tie bar, the ends of said side members being provided with journal boxes adapted to journal a pair of axles in the transversely aligned journal boxes, a bolster disposed between said side members and having end portions disposed for vertical sliding movement therein, and springs for yieldably supporting the ends of the bolster in the side members and extending dow'nwardlythrough openings in the bottom portions of the side members, the ends of the tie bar being detachably fastened to said bottom portions of the side members to provide supports for the lower ends of the springs.

end of its recess 32 through the outer side of j the journal box to provide a lubricating port. The wheels l2 are of a conventional flanged type for engagement with a railroad rail.

In Figures 2 and 3, a portion of a vehicle car -.body is indicated at 34, and in Figure 3, is shown connected to the truck I by a king bolt 35 which is detachably mounted and journaled in the bolthat the vehicle body 34 is thus supported adjacent each of its ends by a, truck 1.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the truck I will yieldably support an end of the vehicle body 34 relatively to the track engaging wheels l2, due to the fact that the extensions 26 of the bolster 9 are mounted for vertical sliding movement in the openings l9 and yieldably supported and urged upwardly therein by the springs 30, and the vehicle body 34 is, in turn, entirely supported on the truck 1 by the resiliently mounted bolster 9. It will be further apparent that the truck 1 is of a durable construction capable of functioning efficiently for its intended purpose and which may be readily disassembled by the simple operation of removing the screws 21 for disengaging the tie rod ID, after which all parts of the truck I may be disassembled.

It will be readily understood Various modifications and changes are con- 2. A truck for model railway rolling stock, comprising a pair of corresponding side members having inwardly opening journal boxes adjacent their ends adapted for journaling the ends of a pair of axles disposed transversely therebetween, said side members having openings intermediate of their ends extending transversely therethrough and being provided with vertical openings communicating with said aforementioned openings and opening outwardly of the bottom edges of the side members, expansion coiled springs disposed in the vertical openings and extending upwardly into the first mentioned transverse openings, a tie bar detachably secured at its ends to the bottom edges of the side members for detachabl connecting the side members, the tie bar ends closing the bottoms of the vertical openings for supportingthe springs, and a bolster extending between said side member and having its ends disposed for vertical movement in the transverse openings and being yieldably supported therein relatively to the side members by engagement on the upper ends of the springs, said tie bar and bolster combining to detachably retain the springs in said side members.

HERMAN R. HOWARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 104,580 Griggs June 21, 1870 408,119 Hughes July 30, 1889 1,314,183 Bubenheim Aug. 26, 1919 1,594,644 Taylor Aug. 3, 1926 2,130,141 Light Sept. 13, 1938 

